The Ultimate Prison Escape

One of my favorite mysteries from Almanac of the Infamous happened in 1815 Prussia when an imprisoned convict literally de-materialized in front of his fellow inmates. The only thing he left behind was the clanking sound of his empty shackles and handcuffs as they hit the floor.

The disappearing prisoner was a man named Diderici. He was a servant to Army Captain Fritz Alswanger. When the Captain died of apoplexy Diderici began impersonating him and living the high life. The dead man's paychecks were cashed instead of canceled and the servant courted many high society ladies before he was caught out and incarcerated.

While serving time in Weichselmunde prison, with it's twenty foot high walls, Diderici was occasionally let out into the yard to walk in circles with the other prisoners for exercise. All of the inmates were manacled together, chains dragging while they trudged around.

One day, in the middle of a line of men, Diderici began to fade away. He became more and more ghostly until he had completely vanished. The empty cuffs clanked to the ground.